Once retirement starts, plenty of folks spend that time playing golf, traveling, or simply enjoying a slower pace of life. Sobiesław Zasada evidently isn't one of them. At 96 years old, the Polish rally legend is still involved in motorsport—and his latest adventure has taken him back to Argentina, where he scored one of the biggest victories of his career almost six decades ago.
To understand why this return matters, we need to go back to October 1967, when Zasada arrived in Argentina to compete in the Gran Premio Internacional de Turismo—a grueling rally that covered more than 1864 miles. The route took competitors through mountains, deserts, and flooded plains. Nearly 400 entrants took part, including teams with factory backing. Zasada, driving a red Porsche 911 affectionately nicknamed "Porschito," managed to beat them all.
His co-driver, engineer Jerzy Dobrzański, helped him navigate the challenging course, but it's how he did so that matters most: their Porsche featured an intercom system that hadn't been used in competition there. That tech might sound rather ordinary today, but in 1967, it was a genuine advantage. The pair ultimately claimed both the Class C and overall victories, cementing Zasada's place in Porsche's rallying history.
Zasada's career is remarkabl: he's a three-time European rally champion, an eight-time Polish national champion, and has won an astonishing 148 rallies across five continents. Porsche says he's competed in more than 40 countries and driven nearly 1.86 million miles. Which might explain why the brand was so willing to support his return to Argentina.
For the trip, Porsche prepared a 911 Dakar wearing a tribute livery inspired by his original red race car, including its number 405. The company also presented a replica of his beloved Porschito, bringing together two very different generations of the 911.
If anyone thinks he's lost the desire to compete, his own words suggest otherwise. "The race took place 59 years ago," Zasada said, "and if today it were exactly as it was at that moment, I would race it again, even at my current 96 years of age." Something tells us he means it.
